Reading Diary A: Ancient Egypt

One of the fun things about this week’s reading section – Egyptian mythology – is that it is something that is so familiar.  I’m always fascinated to read how all the different takes there are on these same tales.

For example, one of my favorite television shows, Supernatural, showcased the god Osiris.  In the show, the god is portrayed by Faran Tahir.  After meeting Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) and sensing Dean’s guilt for recent events of the show, he kidnaps Dean to judge him.  If Dean’s conscious weighs more than feather – Osiris will kill him.

Osiris, God of the Dead [x]

However, at the last minute, Sam – Dean’s brother, portrayed by Jared Padalecki – shows up and demands a trial.  Osiris allows it on the condition that he gets to call three witnesses and the brothers can’t know who those witness are.  Sam, drawing on the few years of law school he had under his belt, acted as Dean’s defense attorney – even formally objecting to some Osiris’s actions (which Osiris promptly overrules).

In the show, Osiris is shown as having power of the spirits of the dead – able to control them and force them to do his bidding.  He finds those who are guilty of causing the death of another – either intentionally or unintentionally, the main focus is on if they feel guilty, kidnaps and brings them to “court”, and judges them.  If he finds them to be guilty, he kills them with the spirit of their victim.

With Dean, who feels guilty over a lot of things, his “trial” is quick and Osiris sentences him to death.  In the end, Sam finds a bit of lore that says that Osiris can be put into a centuries-long hibernation if he is stabbed with a ram’s horn.

Sam stabbing Osiris and saving his brother [x]